Tuesday 6th September 2016 (The day disaster struck…..) I got up for work at 1600 to a myriad of texts and whatsapp messages telling me the wires were down on the ECML and the job was well and truly stopped. Firstly it was awfully nice of people to let me know and secondly this not Read the Rest…
On the back of their successful “mileage” running days in 2015 the Great Central Railway (GCR) organised a series of running days for certain locos during the 2016 season and it was the turn of 31563 on Friday 15th July. Like the previous year the GCR would run 6 round trips but unlike the previous Read the Rest…
The Great Central Railway did something on 21st August 2015, that hadn’t been done by them in a good 10 years; put 31563 out for 6 round trips! While back in the early 2000’s, mainly due to lack of steam, it was quite common that 31563 would do 6 round trips a day, it actually Read the Rest…
I got married on Saturday 28th March 2015 with my “stag” weekend, in the loosest sense, being a weekend out involving some real ales, 31563 at the Great Central Railway and 31466 at the East Lancs Railway; having stayed overnight in Ramsbottom. Of course I managed to be the first person to bed on the Read the Rest…
Normal diesel running at the Great Central Railway had 31563 rostered to work on Saturday 25th October. This had been my first visit to the GCR for a couple of years; during which absolutely nothing seemed to have changed, other than the prices in the station buffet appearing to have gone down! ‘563 was on Read the Rest…
The Great Central Railway had the 2012 honor of being the first preserved railway to use a 31 that season. To save on running round there were three round trips planned, with 20098 on the Leicester end and 31563 on the Loughborough end of the stock, at 1215, 1415 & 1535 ex Loughborough. Both locos Read the Rest…